Falcon Virgo is the name given to a series of ongoing exercises designed to test airspace security, especially around major American cities like New York and Washington, D.C.. They involve both regular military and Civil Air Patrol forces.
These exercises comprise a series of training flights held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental US NORAD Region (CONR), Civil Air Patrol, the US Coast Guard and the CONR's various Air Defense Sectors.
These exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled to ensure NORAD’s rapid response capability. NORAD has conducted exercise flights of this nature throughout the U.S. and Canada since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the command’s response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.[1]